


love is a curious thing

by ZhenLe



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, M/M, Slow Build, Tokyo (City), fluff everywhere more like kill me now, this is my take on the canon harumakotokyo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2671298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZhenLe/pseuds/ZhenLe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haru loves Makoto.</p>
<p>He’s in love with Makoto.</p>
            </blockquote>





	love is a curious thing

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [Shie](iwatobi-titan-club.tumblr.com) because she's been my internet best friend for a long while, we've been friends for over a year (wow), she's put up with me and my super late replies for that long, and she's the Mako to my Ryuko ♥ She's amazing  
> Also I got this sappy title from chp 409 (I think?) of Fairy Tail, in which one of the character's just goes 'fate is a curious thing' and I was like yo. It stuck. OTL  
> Hope you enjoy! Harumakotokyo fluff for you ♥

Haru loves Makoto.

He’s in love with Makoto.

And he definitely did not expect a trip out of town to help him see that.

When his mackerel doesn’t taste the same, Haru only blinks before continuing to eat. When the stars don’t seem to shine as brightly in the sky as they’d used to, Haru sighs and prepares the futon. As he lies in bed, trying to sleep, he feels like it’s colder than normal and that his chest is slowly being crushed in the darkness.

And it comes to him like a gentle slap in the face because Makoto isn’t a mere five-minute stroll away right now. He had eaten his mackerel miles away from Makoto’s home. The stars in the sky weren’t the same ones he’d gazed at with Makoto.

There’s a little place in his heart that now seems to throb with ache, longing, loneliness. He misses Makoto. And he’s in love with Makoto.

Haru doesn’t believe he fell in love. He’s probably sunk his way deeper and deeper into love with Makoto and now there’s no way out.

Not that Haru minds. Not in the least.

But the pain in his chest gets the better of him and he cuts his visit to his parents short with the excuse of an oncoming sickness. One that returning home is going to cure.

He rings on Makoto’s doorbell five minutes after reaching Iwatobi.

//

"I’m going to a university in Tokyo."

Haru’s body goes numb.

Fireworks explode.

Makoto’s face is serious.

Haru never thought he’d cry himself to sleep again after his grandmother’s passing.

But he does that night and it’s the most painful thing.

Because Makoto is leaving him.

//

“You know, I’m glad you’ve found a dream Haru.”

Haru turns from staring out the window to see Rin smiling, a small smile that warms Haru’s heart a little. He nods with a small smile of his own, and then quickly resumes his cloud-watching because he’s not about to break down in front of Rin, in front of a hundred other people around him, _on a plane_ , when he pictures a similar gentle smile on the most beautiful face.

His heart just lurches in anxiety and maybe breakfast wasn’t such a good idea this morning.

But when he hears a familiar voice calling for them and is greeted by none other than Makoto, Haru almost feels like crying again because oh, how could he have ever shouted at Makoto.

“Haru, welcome home.”

Haru bites his lip and blinks to clear his vision because how could he have ever said such terrible things to Makoto.

“I’m home.”

And Haru is so grateful that out of the billions of people in the world, he’s in love with Makoto.

//

"I’m going to Tokyo too."

Makoto’s face seems to light up in a way Haru never thought possible, but he hardly has time to think further because he’s being crushed to Makoto’s chest in a tight hug and wow.

This is the warmest Haru has felt in awhile.

He doesn’t regret his decision in the least.

And his heart swells with love when Makoto congratulates him through quiet sobs.

//

Tokyo is nothing like Iwatobi.

The streets are noisy almost all the time. There are people literally everywhere. There is hardly any fresh mackerel at the grocery store. His house is a lot smaller (but maybe the bathtub is an inch longer).

Makoto isn’t a five-minute stroll away.

But he is a 7-minute train ride away and Haru pinches himself to get rid of the ridiculously huge smile surfacing when Makoto pulls him out of the tub again.

"We’re going to be late, Haru-chan."

Tokyo doesn’t feel that intimidating with Makoto.

//

They don’t go to the same university, but they frequent a small cafe right in between.

It’s a calming affair, something Haru finds himself looking forward to every time. It’s almost like a step out of reality, a small one at least. Because nothing else seems to matter except sitting opposite Makoto.

He’s running late today, though. One of Makoto’s lecturers seems to be in a habit of ranting on for an additional ten minutes every time, but being the good note-taking student he is Makoto never even notices until he’s out of class and shooting Haru a quick apology message before arriving as fast as he can manage.

So Haru takes the bill.

When Makoto gets there first he pays. When Haru reaches first he pays. It’s almost like an unspoken rule, but Haru thinks he’d pay all the time if that meant he’d get to see Makoto everyday.

//

On days when his coach is on fire, Haru will stand on the train platform with aching limbs and flop into bed once he’s done with an evening bath.

On normal days, Haru can afford to do a little more. Sometimes he and Makoto take a walk in the city. Other times they might grab supper or something sweet (Haru loves seeing Makoto’s face when presented with chocolate cake).

But what Haru likes most are the times like tonight where they go to Makoto’s place to play video games, which inevitably ends with them spending the night together.

"Did something happen today, Haru?"

Haru almost kicks himself when he realises he’s been smiling at the screen like an idiot.

"Nothing."

He might be a little embarrassed about how excited he is to spend the night here again.

Makoto lets out the cutest little laugh ever.

//

Makoto gets stressed near assignment deadlines, and those are the times Haru hates because most of the time, all he gets is one text to get him through the day.

Not that he can complain. Makoto is a full-time college student and so is Haru. He understands how important meeting the deadline is.

Even so he feels like he can power through a hundred more laps when Makoto invites him over to do their work together.

Tonight he feels a little happier because he has at least a solid five hours of being with Makoto. So he takes one of the notebooks in Makoto’s messy stack, turns to a random page, and draws the chubby white kitten Makoto used to play with on the steps.

A fortnight and two days later, he draws a mackerel spouting a motivational line for Makoto to find.

//

Haru hates evening lectures.

He hates that they’re in the evening. And he hates that he might not get to see Makoto because of them.

There are times, too many to count, where Haru is on the verge of getting up and leaving through the back door but he can already hear Makoto’s voice scolding him like the mother hen he is.

Mother hen Makoto does bring a small smile to Haru’s face. And maybe today’s lecture will be tolerable.

//

Mid-semester break is like a taste of heaven because Haru gets to spend time with Makoto every day.

Every day he wakes up to a sleepy smile and beautiful green eyes and Haru would wake up at the most unearthly hours any time if it meant getting to see this.

Every day he grills mackerel for two and watches Makoto eat with a smile. He thinks back about that trip to Tokyo when the mackerel had tasted dull and different and remembers.

Every day feels a little warmer, every day seems a little brighter than the last. Haru thinks he’d be smiling 24/7 if he were the sort of person to do that, but does let loose a few small smiles throughout the day.

He loves Makoto so much.

Everyday ends when Haru realises classes start again tomorrow. A week goes by really fast.

//

Nagisa and Rei come for a visit and Haru doesn’t know how he ends up sitting in the cinema, five rows from the back and near the centre, watching one of the cheesiest romantic movies he’s ever seen. (Rin seems to like them so he’s had his fair share back in Iwatobi.)

Makoto is stuck in college for the day because of an upcoming group project, and all his teammates are literally the laziest people ever. Haru wishes the seat next to him wasn’t empty.

He sees two people kissing on the screen, and he wonders what it would be like to kiss someone.

To kiss _Makoto_.

Those thoughts are immediately slapped away when those two people start crying. One of them is leaving.

Haru never wants to leave Makoto, and he hopes and hopes Makoto will never leave him (again).

//

Parties are terrible, and Haru has time to regret being roped into this again as he sits on a barstool with a glass of water in hand. He doesn’t trust alcohol, not after that one time he thought it was a cup of water on the table. Rin, and Sousuke for that matter, are never going to let him live that down. He’s only here to look after Makoto (and get irrationally irritated when people try and get into his pants).

Makoto sits next to him, and he’s also drinking water. Makoto doesn’t like the taste of alcohol, or at least that’s what he claims. Haru thinks he either doesn’t want to embarrass himself in public or is taking those health leaflets back in high school very seriously. Also, he’s being flirted with up and down.

All attempts – in the form of death glares – to get flirty girls to leave fail miserably because they’re too absorbed staring at Makoto’s pretty face to even glance at him. Haru can relate.

Hejust wants to grab Makoto and go home, but unfortunately for the both of them he now has enough on his hands trying to shoo away the girl that’s started chatting him up. No, no he is not interested in girls. He’s not even interested in boys. It’s just. Makoto.

And then he’s staring at the alcoholic drink in the girl’s hand and wondering if that will lead to him being bold enough to confess to Makoto. If they were together no one would be trying to flirt with him, Haru thinks. Maybe instead of this stupid party with these stupid flirters he’d be home in Makoto’s arms. Or…you know, _kissing_ him. Haru’s tempted, to say the least. It sounds easy enough.

But almost as if Makoto has sensed him about to do something crazy, he turns to Haru and asks if he wants something to eat.

Confessing can wait another time.

//

"Make sure you don’t just eat mackerel, Haru."

Haru nods nonchalantly.

"Also stay with your teammates. I don’t want you to get lost in the city."

Mother hen Makoto makes a reappearance in Haru’s mind.

"And be nice to your host family! They’ll probably feed you more than just mackerel."

Haru feels the cold dread around his heart sink in slowly.

"Try not to stay in the tub too long either. You need good rest okay?"

This is such a pain. Haru didn’t want to go on this out-of-Tokyo tournament, and this is just making him feel even more like dropping his bag and going back.

"I’ll miss you, Haru."

Makoto smiles gently at him, and even though his cheeks feel warm Haru’s chest feels cold. A week and a half without Makoto is going to be hell on earth.

"Do your best okay? I’ll try and come to your next tournament if I can make it."

Maybe there’s a little bit of warmth blooming in his stomach and maybe he’s excited about that promise but right now he just puts on his best stoic mask and nods again.

"I’ll be fine, Makoto."

Haru already misses him.

//

Haru and Makoto both go back to Iwatobi at the start of the one and a half months winter break. It’s nice to be back home, where the sea is near and the streets near-empty.

"I’m home" Haru says absentmindedly as he takes off his shoes, and he only starts to burn with embarrassment when he hears Makoto gasp and the twins start giggling.

Of course, the Tachibana household is lively and noisy with boisterous twins jumping on their backs and Makoto’s parents welcoming them home. Haru smiles.

They spend a week there, and it’s one of the most relaxing times Haru’s had since the start of college. And what makes it better is that he gets to be with Makoto every day.

It feels so quick, too fast, when they return to Tokyo and there’s no more sunset over the sea’s horizon or friendly neighbours roaming quiet streets. By that time, the entire city square is in the Christmas mood (it’s not even December yet!) and there are sales everywhere. Haru just finds it too cold and bundles himself in blankets.

//

Another three weeks pass by and Christmas is just around the corner. Haru has never thought anything special about this occasion. It’s not really a Japanese custom – couples tend to just use this as a special ‘couple day’ in Haru’s mind.

Which is exactly the excuse Haru is going to use for this crazy feat he’s planning. There’s no other time better than this. And he may be getting a little tired of keeping these feelings to himself.

They visit a warm little café in the city square, and Haru’s mind is way too preoccupied at the moment to listen to Makoto’s idle chatter. He’s starting to second guess himself. Because what if Makoto was already interested in someone else? What if Makoto didn’t accept his feelings? What if Makoto found him repulsive and clingy? Haru’s hands are clammy and his tea is cold and he’s probably subconsciously looking for any opportunity to run out the door.

“Haru, are you alright?”

He’s snapped back to reality, to the warmth of the café, to the gentle but concerned smile on Makoto’s face opposite him.

“What were you thinking about?”

“How much I love you.”

 

Makoto freezes. And Haru stops breathing because oh crap this was _not_ supposed to happen. Not like this, not here. Haru wants the sky to just fall on him, or the earth to just swallow him up right now. His legs are too weak to run away and really, it’s like he’s glued to his seat and unable to move.

The most unromantic, unprepared for confession in the world, he had just gone and done it.

“I’m sorr – ”

“Haru,” Makoto cuts him off, “is it…was that…” _a confession?_

There’s no running away for him, and he’s definitely not about to brush off his own feelings as a joke.

“It was. I’m in love with you, Makoto. And I’m sorry, if this was a little, uh, unexpected.”

Makoto just grabs his hand and squeezes it. Haru feels his heart flood and probably burst with warmth when Makoto smiles at him like he’s the only person in the world that matters.

//

They might be a couple now, they might have started dating (and _kissing_ , don’t forget the kissing), but it still doesn’t mean that they see each other every day.

In fact, college has only gotten a lot tougher. Deadlines, assignments, upcoming semester exams. Makoto has a huge load on his shoulders and even Haru finds himself exhausted every evening. It’s hard, really hard, to not be able to be with Makoto. Even though they’ve started texting more frequently, words cannot make up for distance.

Haru thinks they’re extremely fortunate, he’s extremely fortunate, to be able to have a simple dinner date with Makoto one evening. But Makoto is later than usual to their usual café spot and he isn’t answering his messages. Two unanswered calls later Haru pays for his cup of tea before rushing to Makoto’s university.

The first place he heads to is the library (with the help of certain passersby) in which Makoto spends a lot of his time studying. He scouts the entire place for around twenty minutes before finally reaching the highest floor. In a small secluded corner, Haru is met with a brunet buried face first in his books. Quite literally.

He ends up dragging a very sleepy Makoto back to his apartment to let him sleep on a bed instead of open books.

//

Haru’s teammates are getting extremely curious, almost to the point of annoying, because Haru is texting and using his phone way more than they remembered.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Is she cute?”

“What’s her name?”

Even though Haru tries his best to ignore all their teasing they still manage to get out that he’s dating a certain ‘Makoto’ and that ‘she’ goes to a different university. Haru can’t even find it in himself to be mad at their jealous taunts. He’s one hundred per cent sure that anyone would want someone like Makoto, and he’s just truly happy that Makoto wanted him back.

//

His alarm goes off right underneath his head and Haru almost throws it onto the floor in irritation. He tries to sit up after turning it off only to find arms wrapped around his waist and _oh._ It’s Saturday.

“Haru, isn’t it Saturday?”

Makoto’s sleepy voice and warm breath on his neck make his heart thump hard and Haru silently curses that stupid alarm clock for waking his boyfriend up.

“Sorry, I forgot. Go back to sleep Makoto.”

“Mmmh…”

Makoto chooses to respond fully by placing a line of kisses down his neck to his shoulder blade, and Haru knows he’s not going back to sleep.

It’s way too early to go out anywhere and Haru is not about to get out of his warm bed to make breakfast so he turns around and presses his lips to Makoto’s.

Lazy morning make-outs with Makoto are the greatest.

//

“Hey, Haru.”

“Mm?”

Makoto doesn’t answer him for a long time and Haru opens his eyes slightly. They’re both in Makoto’s apartment, Haru on the bed and Makoto on the floor with his back against the bed.

“Makoto?”

It’s been around half a year since they’ve started dating, but their history together has gone way beyond that. Scrap that. They’ve been together for as long as they can remember, and Haru doesn’t think he’s seen Makoto look this nervous before. Not that he can remember, at least.

There’s another long pause before Makoto gets up and kisses Haru on the forehead.

“Happy birthday, Haru!”

Haru can feel the blush creep onto his cheeks ( _he actually waited until 12am_ ) and he tries to wipe the small goofy grin off Makoto’s face by kissing him full on the lips. Makoto just lets out a little laugh against his mouth.

“Also, one more thing.”

He lets go of Haru’s cheek and rummages around for something on his table, hidden by stacks and stacks of books. Makoto’s never really been very neat with his desk, but he does find what he’s looking for and hands it to Haru with a small blush on his face.

“For you.”

Haru thanks him softly, and when he sees Makoto tugging at the hem of his shirt and casting a downwards look at the ground he sighs and opens the envelope.

In it is everything Haru needs, wants, and more.

Makoto’s letter does little to stop the rapid beating of his heart. Man, all it does it speed it up until Haru has to grip the bed sheets and hide his red face behind the piece of paper filled with Makoto’s handwriting. And right at the bottom of the letter, attached by a flimsy piece of tape –

“Is this…”

“I-I just thought it might be easier, you know, since we already spent a lot of the time together. And our universities are close to each other. But sorry if it’s too hasty I just, I-I just thought it’d be nice to see you every da – ”

Haru can’t seem to stop his eyes from watering nor can he get his voice out of his throat so he just hugs Makoto for the life of him and hopes that’s enough to show him, to show Makoto just how much he’s feeling right now. Maybe one day he’ll show it better, express his love better, but for now he’s too overwhelmed to even try to form a coherent sentence in his head.

Makoto actually wants to live with him, live _together._

They stay in each other’s arms until Haru’s heart has calmed down and Makoto finishes pressing little kisses to soft raven hair.

//

They’re lying on a small patch of grass, fingers intertwined, in a small secluded area in the park. The sky is dark, and maybe they should head back soon, but moments pass and neither of them make a decision to move.

In Tokyo, the stars are hard to see. The sky is a lot more polluted than back in Iwatobi, and bright street lamps or neon city lights grab all attention, but at least in this part of the park only the polluted sky is a hindrance.

Not that Haru can even tell the difference. The stars he’s gazing at shine brightly, more brightly than when he’d seen them more than a year ago at his parents’ place. And they’re beautiful; the entire sky is beautiful, more beautiful than Haru could remember it being.

Because Makoto is right here with him, because they’re together, side by side in this huge world.

And speaking of this huge world, its pool of information and philosophical ideas, Haru can only seem to think two thoughts tonight.

He loves Makoto.

And Makoto loves him too.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, and concrit are more than welcome! (in fact they're very greatly appreciated ^^ I kinda just based college stuff off my own college, but it's a little different from most unis so not sure if it's accurate)
> 
> Also I'm thinking of quitting writing since it's still as terrible as ever orz sorry it's been on my mind for awhile. Support (or don't?? why wouldn't you) this decision of mine in the comments below or at my tumblr [here](grizzly-pandabear.tumblr.com). So yeah, if you see me around again means I changed my mind or sth :D
> 
> Edit: wow you guys are giving me a lot of encouragement and I guess I just feel a lot better about my improvement in writing? Thank you all so much for your kindness! Hope to see you around ^^
> 
> Edit #2: [PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT SHIE DREW FOR THIS I CANNOT BELIEVE. I AM CRYING. THIS IS PERFECTION. BC HARU IS A DUMB LOSER AND I LOVE HIM FOR IT. (Makoto loves him for it too)](http://iwatobi-titan-club.tumblr.com/post/103698688498/quality-got-kiilled-a-lil-bit-but-d-d-orks)


End file.
